The cases of author Colin Dexter's prickly, eccentric Oxford sleuth, whose passions include ale, crosswords and, of course, a good mystery. Indeed, these first-rate whodunits established `Morse' as PBS's longest running detective series. Sadly, the inspector's style of `inspirational methodology' came to an end in 2002 with the death of star John Thaw.

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A health crisis may force Chief Insp. Morse (John Thaw) to take an early retirement in "The Wench Is Dead." As it opens, Morse attends a lecture given by an American author (Lisa Eichhorn), who has written a book about a 140-year-old English murder. Suddenly, Morse takes ill and is rushed to the hospital, where doctors give him a battery of tests. While awaiting the results, he studies the book about what was considered an "open and shut" case and decides that it needs to be reopened.